5 WWE Smackdown Draft Picks That Ruled (And 5 That Sucked)

2. Triple H (2008)

Since the initial brand split in March of 2002, Triple H had been exclusive to Raw. More than that, he was actively against going to Smackdown, being built up as the most important star of the year during his reign of terror from the summer of '02 to around the spring/summer of 2005. The 'B' show was beneath him.

He was the man who was just given the brand new, Raw-exclusive World Heavyweight Title, simply because he was the biggest star and the best wrestler in the world. He'd done everything, and beaten everyone on WWE's 'A' show. It had been obvious for years that new surroundings might benefit the somewhat stale performer.

And so it came to be in June 2008, when The Game (along with Mr. Kennedy) was the last star to be drafted after Edge won a Raw/Smackdown/ECW tri-branded battle royal to secure two draft picks. He didn't look exactly happy about it, but it wound up being a good short-term career move for him as well as being a genuine boon for the blue brand.

The Cerebral Assassin had some stellar feuds and matches with Edge and Jeff Hardy, and even managed to get a good match out of The Great Khali (at SummerSlam). He was working good, long matches with fresh opponents and putting new guys over. His autumn dispute and Survivor Series match with the ill-fated Vladimir Kozlov was a bit rotten, but he can hardly be blamed for that debacle.

Sadly, Trips switched back to Raw in April 2009, where he had yet more matches with the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton, guys he'd already faced (and beat) many times before, before reforming the tired DX for one last barrel-scraping run.